VETERNS DAY SALUTE

DoD gives us the day off to support our Service Members, remember those who have served and those who gave their lives defending the rights we enjoy today. Each day I have a job because there are Service Members and families who need the services of all of us. I see the faces and know exactly how I have helped a Soldier today; for that I am blessed. While you, my readers, may contribute more indirectly to meet their needs. The prayers we say for those dear to us, the Care packages we may send, the quilts we may sew or a myriad of other projects we may support all come back to one thing – Salute those who serve and whose patriotism of the heart we may never truly understand. I cry for each Soldier we lose from Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright, tears of joy stream down my face as well as the Soldiers walk off the plane for their homecomings. I may not see Brian or Jeremy as they come and go, but I see their face in every Service Member here. As always, I pray that God will protect them as they defend us and our beliefs. As our country accepts new leadership, I also pray that he will be lead to understand the patriotism of the heart and soul of our Service Members and why they serve. God bless our Troops!

I have finished my first two Warm Window Quilts and Fred dutifully hung them in the north facing windows. I vowed to take pictures all through the project but never figured out how to advertise them on this space. So as the dutiful Mom – I will email them to my daughter(s) and they will do the magic to allow you to view and sigh in admiration!! Fred has given me some limited moments to update the Blog – oh, yes he has been harassing me that I do not write as often as our Gen-X and Gen-Y readers do. I will teach him how to add to the blog in his own style. BTW – two moose and two bears now wander on the sills the surround the fireplace. (It is warmer, too!)

The bright yellow and dark blues of the 50th anniversary of Alaska Statehood license plate was spotted in Arkansas. It does seem a bit strange to celebrate Statehood when I am older than the State. It also brings back wonderful memories of the year Nebraska turned 100 – I was just a young teen! The relatives in the AR area chastised me (again) about not sharing a photo of that and the Jeep it resides on! My lame excuse was the care was covered in road slime. My wonderful husband made it all beautiful and shiny and I thought I will just take the picture the next day. Soon a week has gone by and it has rained again. It’s a holiday, so I will have the picture on the same email as the quilts!

Pumpkin carving took on a “life of its own” for us this year. A dear friend invited us to a fundraiser for Special Olympics. The host has a special affection for (construction) engineer designers. (And I always tease the engineers I work with that none of them are socialites and never color outside the box!) Back to the story – The host invited local companies to have teams of 3 people, bring your own tools, carve a pumpkin on site in 51 minutes and then auction them off! Great plan, except for the team who did not read the part about bring your own tools! The Petroleum Club (popular elite room of the oil industry) was the place and we started off with some good wine and food. Unknown to all invitees at the beginning, the buffet line would become the “pickings” of the carvers later. The carvers grouped around their assigned pumpkins trying to determine if the plan they had would work, or if creativity of the moment would have to be invoked. At the appointed hour, the carving began. The ingenious team with no tools managed at first with table fork, spoon and manicured fingernails. As the crowd encouraged them, one fine chef found seafood knife to help them. The creations that emerged were incredible. Pumpkin #1 became a T-Rex with flaming eyes and claws. On the reverse side was an erupting volcano spewing “pumpkin” colored lava with cauliflower clouds. (Thanks to the buffet line.) Pumpkin #2 evolved into a geometric hanging lamp reminding everyone of a Japanese garden. The third on was bouncy Betty Boop with glowing eyes and other body parts! Governor Sarah Palin graced the next orange orb. It looked like a pen and ink drawing with backlighting – common to the editorial cartoon pages except that it was a beautiful, delicate full face view. The next carvers took great delight in making several small cutouts that are common to Alaska Statehood anniversary. These included the bear, moose and the logo for all those memory items we and the tourists will buy. The last great pumpkin became a flaming eyed Birch Bark Beetle emerging from a tree trunk with broccoli mold and lichen along the tree trunk. Fall leaves that once decorated the buffet table became the leaves for the Beetle to crunch. This was the creation of the team with no tools! The lights were dimmed, the candles lit and our Halloween spirit soared as we applauded the artists and their creations. The auctioneer began his chant just as the “ahhs and ohhs” became whimpers in the crowd. As we thought of our grandchildren, we raised our bid on the T-Rex. He came back to Chugiak, but found a home on the steps of a five year old neighbor girl. Her belly full of giggles erupted like the volcano on the pumpkin when she spied the adornment to the porch. The highlight of the auction – the carvers of the Birch Beetle bought their own creation for triple the amount of every other jack-o-later! The parting comment, “My manicured nails are buried somewhere in that orange thing and I want to admire them for at least another week!!

As our Blog indicates, we will always be Nebraskans first and Alaskans just because we live here. Each Saturday we try and find the favorite team on the tube and more often than not find that it is not a regional game in our area. The past few weeks we have cheered and/or screamed as our team inched out a win or spotted the opposers 28 points in the first four minutes of the game. We call the Jaybird fans when they lose to us or my brother to brag about the score. The Husker flag waves to passer-bys from our front porch and the mailbox is adorned with the logo as well. We will raid the neighbor’s yard who dare to put up character cut-outs of their favorite team, especially on Husker game day when they are the opponent. Still, at the end of the day, the tailgate party remains the favorite part of all these armchair quarterbacks. GO BIG RED!!!

Halloween Package

The day finally arrived! Anya has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of her wonderful, amazing Halloween package sent with TLC from her favorite Grandma. As soon as she saw the box, she started jumping up and down and of course she had to try it on right away...





Mom--You are wonderful! Thanks for always making Anya's dreams come true!

The End of Summer – It Really Never Was

It’s no longer Termination Dust on the distant Bear Mountain; it’s snowing large flakes that melt instantly on the driveway. The trees look like someone was baking and sifted powdered sugar hap-hazardly across the branches and the lawn trying to cover the turning and falling leaves. Fred has worked all summer on the yard to make it a lush green surrounded by newly planted trees. Now the long wait to see if it all comes back. :-]

The chastising has become outright criticism from my lovely daughters! Hear the screams – “Mom is delinquent – her Blog is missing serious updates.” So here is my redemption piece. I need forgiveness for the following: making the emergency trip to Nebraska in July; staff training in August; a trip to see the new grandson in Washington; year-end closeout for DoD in September; trying my hand at quilting, for months, to get the art of Warm Window Quilts; and yes – making sure the important grandchildren all have their favorite Halloween characters in full regalia!

At last, a chance to brag and boast about the favorite things in life. My honey has kept the vigil of studying books and acing practical exams by marking another milestone, errr Skymiles, in his race for the Alaskan skies. Last week he passed his instrument tests and practical flight with the FAA. He then passed the flight test for night flying and mountain flying. He has taken several night flights – to Homer, Soldotna, and places unknown. He left for Hawaii Sunday and arriving on Monday were the books for his commercial license! Gee – I’m sure it just a few more dollars, a few more flights, and a few more tests…..a few more days where he talks to his flying partner more than his wife.

My next project is teaching my grandkids the art of asking Grandma around Easter for Halloween Costumes. Of course they will change their minds a dozen times, grow at least a couple of inches and the Grandma will just end up sewing like crazy in the last month to make their wishes come true. I can hardly wait to see Mary Ingalls, Indiana Jones, a Medieval Princess and Tinkerbelle. Dale even prospered as I found a Pirate costume for him. (It doubles as a sleeper!) Poor Aaron, the little guy will be wearing something unknown for the moment! I loved shopping and sewing; only Opa thought he was first in line for me to finish the windows. AHH – that remains a work in progress, as does the Blues Clues blanket. I took leave this week to work in my cave, but even that has not happened. I will be there tomorrow!

It has been over two years since the Hoochies got together for a girl’s weekend and much has changed in our individual lives. We have kept close in prayers and in our hearts as one of our crew dealt with the conviction and jail time of her daughter (24 years old) on a charge of “guilty by association” with someone who hid drugs in her purse. A couple of them had serious health issues and these same friends have held us up in the last year with our personal trauma. It’s with celebration in our hearts that we welcome two to Grandma-hood next weekend. The big surprise – a friend that lives in South Carolina flew in for the event. It was two nights at the Copper Whale (owned by an old buddy from the Fly By Night Club), a day of touring art galleries, boutique shopping and an evening at the local theatre. Friday night events started with Jell-O Shooters, stories and lots of laughs. We walked Fifth Avenue admiring the works of local artists. It’s a monthly event called First Friday and comes with food and beverage samples. We then gathered at Gingers for dinner. It’s a new place and had lots to offer. I had the chicken curry with a dry Italian wine that Mary recommended. Of course we all tried every entrée that someone else ordered and a few bites of dessert before heading back to the rooms for a long night of giggles and stories! Saturday we toured the new convention center. Unknown to us, there was a political rally for McCain-Palin for youth of Alaska. We avoided the crowds as we admired the stained glass window depicting the Native heritage of Alaskans. The main room can seat 5,000 – not sure if that is with or without tables! Hobo Jim was in concert – so that was fun. We window shopped boutiques – no fabric for me- then to an Irish Pub for lunch. Unfortunately for them we won’t be back. The food was good, when we finally got our order, but the service was seriously lacking! I stopped at JC Penney on the way back to the room for a couple of pairs of black pants for work – big expenditure for the weekend. I had intended to go to the Spa for a Hot Rock massage, but could not get in. We all met back at the Copper Whale - some for naps, others for quiet time in a hot bubble bath! The Clean House was playing at Cyrano’s. It’s a very small theatre that does a new production every month. This story was about four women who are dealing with individual issues but bound together as sisters, mother and housekeeper. It was an awesome play written by a local artist. The main group went to Rum Runners afterwards to meet up with their favorite guy for late night dinner. I met up with mine by going home. Fred had to be at the airport by 0930 on Sunday. The rest went back to Copper Whale – ending the weekend with a late night stories and a morning breakfast. Husbands and lovers are wonderful and I have the best in one man – but girlfriends are the understanding that men just do not understand!

Alan can relate to this – my self-appraisal is due today. Only people in the new pay system of NSPS can relate to the 10,000 character limitation of trying to tell your boss what you accomplished and then not knowing until January if he agrees since he is not allowed to talk with you about it. It is then forwarded to a committee who does not know what your job is and compares it with (in my case) all other supervisors on the installation. The entire review process is 13 pages – the employee (me) gets to fill out the first half. The real defeat is the award system – there is none! I will be lucky to get an inflation raise.

I am taking the week off to prepare for another major event. Fred is on the Board for Safari Club International. He intends to resign after this year for personal reasons. Meanwhile, as a board member, he volunteered to host the fall event. We chose Oktoberfest as our theme for a quarterly general meeting. We decided the menu and then asked the Hoochies to help put it on. We will be serving 80 people brats, rotisserie chicken, German potato salad, red cabbage, sauerkraut, and apple strudel. This will be combined with German music, traditional beer and wine, door prizes of German cakes and books and finally the Chicken Dance! We are doing a practice run at the house on Sunday to give everyone a taste of the menu and assign duties. We have never catered before, should be interesting! The Hoochies will make it work!

I can feel the forgiveness flow as I have caught up with everyone near and dear. Again the promises of trying to keep pace with the professional bloggers in my life!

Memories Tag

Here's a little "tag" going around...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

THE ALASKAN SKIES

Once again I am sitting in my cave, as Fred calls it and catching up with the mail and notes that I owe my family and friends. It is really my sewing room and I am resisting the urge to turn off the computer and just sew the day away. It is perfect for that: the sky is cloudy and threatening to drench me if I even open the window more than two inches; the wind is gently blowing the smells of wild flowers and wood smoke from the surrounding neighborhood; and the quiet mood of Miss Jane Marple solving a another murder on audio book fills the room. It is the simple life I wish I could maintain throughout the weeks of summer.

Reality hits! I really enjoyed the time in Nebraska. I spent more time on the road than expected due to the trips to Norfolk to visit Grandma Lehman. Those are important and I was pleased to see her steadily in recovery from the heart surgery. Unfortunately, she has had a couple of setbacks due to blood clots in the lungs. She was returned to the hospital and seems to be recovering, but is struggling. We get almost daily updates from Fred’s older sister, Barbara. She travels about 2 hours every few days to see her. Fred’s younger sister, Pam, lives in the same town and is with her daily. Pam is very optimistic that she will be home by mid-July. She will need constant companionship when she does return. Decisions about her long term recovery have been very difficult for the family, but all seems to be going well.

The rest of the trip resembled a roller coaster ride with escalating rises, sharp turns and just the silliness of being with friends on the carnival rides. One must just keep going back to the ticket booth for another adventure. That would be Mom and Dad’s place. The heavy rains and numerous weather warnings for tornadoes followed by gorgeous sunny days reminded me that life is just as unpredictable. My Mom, Aunt and two sister-in-laws met up with my good friend Cindy, her Mom and sisters in Omaha. We “ lunched” on a roof-top café in the Old Market area and then hurried off to the theater to see Menopause the Musical. We laughed ‘til our sides hurt tears stained our faces. Margaret, Kathy and I extended the evening by finding a hotel room, sharing a couple bottles of wine and regaling each other with stories and secrets of motherhood and marriage. For those in the know – “Ya-Ya Sisterhood” is alive and well!

It would be the only trip to Omaha due to the storms and highway closures. Dennis ended up spending lots of time trying to farm and rescue cattle and fences between the storms. I spent my last evening in Nebraska eating HIS food and drinking HIS wine…..always good to eat off the relatives. Margaret and I spent a girl day spoiling Megan with lunch and a movie. The waitress asked the question if we were celebrating anything special and so we pretended it was it birthday! The afternoon just got crazier after that. (Actually, it made me miss my own girls even more. You guys just need to move closer so that I can spoil you with these fun moments!) Bruce and his family “blew in” from Kansas, minus Toto, to spend a little over a day. We rarely get the three siblings together, let alone the extended family. My niece Sarah has bloomed into a lovely young woman and will start college this fall.

The quiet evenings, and occasional days, spent with Mom and Dad were very relaxing. Instead of cotton candy & carnival peanuts, we settled for Rough Necks and many card games. They mowed lawns; I trimmed. They picked up branches and I climbed the tree to knock them down. Good times come to an end and I returned to Alaska.
I was back for only three days and then off to Washington DC for a conference. At the conference I met up with a professional friend from Germany and several others from across the nation. The meeting was set to “solve” challenges that resulted from law changes and Congressional hearings as they apply to military housing. We had two free evenings. I spent one walking through Georgetown and eating at Martin’s Tavern. (Several Presidents made that their favorite meeting place.) Another evening was spent on historical Fort Meyer and watching a military tattoo with the Old Guard. Always impressive!

Back to work, but always at the hectic pace. June to August is always the heaviest turnover in military housing. We have added to the pace by moving troops in /out of the Gulf area. Normal days, long past, we saw about 75-100 walk-in customers a day, plus all regular appointments and 20+ inspections a day. Since mid May a normal day is 150 to 180 walk-ins. It’s a pace that just makes your brain hurt to think about. Around the first of August our customer base will increase by about 3,000 as we take on the management of barracks spaces. We all have our moments of stress and unhappy customers. Everyday I ask the question, “Have I made a difference in the life of a soldier or his family?” Each day I say yes and know that I love what I do.

Fred has had the most fun the summer. His favorite question today – “Do you know the difference between a ditch and a swale?” The first is $500 and the latter is $2000. Both look the same when they are done. We had to put in a swale to help the drainage in the front and northeast parts of the yard. It was draining toward the house. Now it should drain into the northeast green belt. Fred planted grass, trees and a few flowers and spend hours watering and nurturing. (i.e. swearing and counseling them if they do not respond.) He has built a retaining wall, 4+ feet high on the southwest corner. He is adding spiral stairs to the back yard that will curve along the wall. The built up area is the chosen space for a small shed for the snow blower, mower and gas cans. That remains to be built.

In between projects and “his regular job,” he has found the time for his hobby, FLYING. We celebrated with impromptu beer/pizza party another achievement Friday night; he passed the written instrument test. He still has the oral and the test ride, but he says they will be much easier. Kelcie, our 4 1/2 year old adopted granddaughter found the perfect airplane to adorn the cake. It had large comical eyes for the windows and a cheeky smile.

Although I have spent some time in the yard, my mission is to get the window quilts finished for the family room by September. No pattern here, just my vision of a finished product. I have chosen a muted yellow-brown for the background. The “framing” strips for each window is a scattered pine bough print. The quilts will be made in the design of a Roman shade and will roll up in 12” sections. I chose to decorate with simple pine trees, bear and moose along the bottom twelve inches. Everything will be in silhouette so there is no detail. Four windows are 35” x 58” and the large center window is 94” x 58.” I decided to make the large windows into three panels that will resemble the other windows. The scene will be Denali and the reflecting lake. In the foreground will be a Cache with a sled dog on one side and a musher’s sled with a couple of dogs on the other. In-between this quilt, the Grandma in me has taken special requests from the audience under the age of 5. This includes orders for Halloween costumes, Blue’s Clues Cuddle quilt, and whatever else can be thought of. Sure hope that they are all easy this year. Now is the time to catch up on your blogs as well.

MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE

I cannot believe that it has been a month since I wrote. Even more unbelievable, the girls have not called and complained!

We had a tribute to all those who have served or are currently serving in the military. There are about 30 people in our congregation who were honored. I walked away feeling pretty good about the tribute; but then I read something that made me really stop and think about the time these people give. Our daughter, Jessica, wrote a note in her blog that I just had to share. It can bring tears to your eyes……..I pray that God gives him safe on his next Iraqi trip!

We signed into LRAFB November of 2002. In that time Brian has had 13 deployments/TDYs; including the current one in Alaska. His TDY days number 53 and his deployment days number 719. Since there are 365 days in a year, that puts him 11 days shy of having spent 2 full years in the desert. Let's break those 719 days down even further to put it into perspective. A soccer game lasts 90 minutes. That's equal to 11,504 soccer games. It takes about 10 minutes to read Houston a bedtime story. Brian has missed out on 7,190 minutes worth of story time. 719 days is the same as 17,256 hours, or 1,034,360 minutes, or 62,061,600 seconds that Brian has spent in a war zone.
Fred and I are actually spending lots of quality time together these days. The Alaska sun is finally staying up late and we are trying to match the hours. The longer days means the trees and shrubs are greening overnight; a sign of spring that still marvels us. We wake in the early morning hours to view the mountains across Cook Inlet from our balcony. I enjoy the warm morning coffee brew and Fred has his usual – the Coke. It seems such a shame to waste the day going to work.
The local nursery, AKA Lowes Hardware and Home Depot, have got our dollars these days. We have cleaned out the front yard, including all the dead bushes and leaning spruces. so far we have planted 12 spruce bush pines and still have another twelve to go! Fred has started the rock wall, more commonly known as Winsor red pavers, which will line the front of the house. It’s decorative, but really serves the purpose of diverting water to the drainage ditch, which will be constructed by the Engineering firm that put the septic system in last spring. The company should start in the next couple of weeks. We also got large blocks to make stair steps from the back of the RV parking area to the back yard. Right now it is a very steep incline. We are going to build a small shed for the snow blower, lawn mower, assorted gas cans, etc so that they are not in the garage. One of my co-workers also works for a construction company. The company is digging for a development in Eagle River. They have lots of fill dirt they want to get rid of and we want to level out our back yard. Best part of this deal – no charge; just have to hire the local kid to use his Bobcat to move it around.

As Jessica noted, Brian is spending 10 days in Alaska on a mission for the Army. He has worked the 1 PM to 1 AM shift, so we saw little of him for a week. However, since Friday evening we have had a great time. His birthday is coming up so we took him to Indiana Jones, the top of Alyeska, and Fred has taken him one two flights. Father Bluett will join us for steaks on the grill tonight. Brian has to report at 3 AM for departure.

I leave on Wednesday morning for Nebraska. So I had better pack…..

Alaskan Spring

Sipping coffee on this early Sunday morning, I am enjoying the peaceful quiet of the white foggy mist that has settled around the birch trees. Varying shades of dirty white to grays hides the fallen branches from the last windstorm. It seems that even the wildlife have gone back into hibernation; no prints in the snow, no scurrying in the bushes. It must be warm outside; the dripping from the roof reminds me that it is an Alaskan spring day!
It snowed 22 inches in NE Anchorage starting early Friday morning and lasting well into the night. Our area had a mere 14 inches coupled with multiple electrical outages. Travelling the roads yesterday to work was easy, but parking anywhere was a challenge. Like little boys in a sandbox, both the Municipality and Fort Rich had put away their winter toys, replacing them with heavy construction noisemakers. Scrambling and grabbing the closest item with a blade was the order of business for the day.
The Garrison Commander brought inspection teams in on Saturday to walk through all barracks. It was a facilities maintenance verification not a check on Soldiers as some young recruits seemed to think; Saturday morning party eyes were evident on many faces. It was a mandatory site inspection as directed by Department of the Army. Some of you that scour the internet for headlines may have read about an incident at Fort Bragg where soldiers coming home from Iraq were moved into barracks in questionable condition. It was brought to the attention of Congressmen by a soldier’s father. Housing provided three inspection teams with cameras and vehicles. Of course the day started with coffee and donuts and ended five hours later much the same way after our briefing to the boss.
I went from work to a housewarming. Wanita Sweet had just moved into a wonderful condo with zero lot lines; i.e. no maintenance and lots of covenants in this development. In her typical style of food preparation “Take Out” or “Take Me Out” she had assembled a wonderful luncheon. She surprised the Hoochies by fixing a sweetened meatball dish. the secret ingredient was grape jelly. Wanita had downsized from a four-bedroom house to this condo in january. We had helped with her garage sale last fall and a couple of people had helped move the furniture. She is always the perfect hostess!
Special Note to the Bundy Clan – I enjoy your Blog as well. I tried to comment yesteday and failed miserbly twice…more evidence that I lack in computer communication. :-)

Grandma and the Babies

(2 out of 5 1/2)

SPRINGTIME – IS IT COMING??

I am taking a break from cleaning. Jennifer’s blog about her freezer almost made me feel energized; but then I became normal again and only am cleaning what someone would see if they walked in the front door. I am trying to get stuff done so I can escape to my sewing room. (My Main Man says it’s no better than his garage and boy toys; just a room for girl toys!)

It’s snowed 11 inches on Tuesday night and Wednesday there were 121 accidents as people drove like maniacs to get to work. In fact, one of my employees hit a car that had crossed the median and went airborne. Those two people walked away without a scratch; my employee was injured. The police told him his airbag and seat belt saved his life. Impact left him with broken knee cap and lots of bruises and sore muscles. Meanwhile, the snow completely melted over the couple of days. Today it is snowing again. BIG, beautiful flakes! I really want spring to be her and all the snow to melt so that we see tulips and can start on our front yard.

Grandma Lehman’s birthday was yesterday. Dad talked to her for about an hour and she sounded better than she has for a long time. She is selling some of her stuff so that she can sell her house and move into an assisted living building. I don’t know if she can take her dog, but I know it is getting more difficult for her to get out and walk/play with her. When I go back to Nebraska in late May or early June I will spend some time with her.

Next weekend will be really busy. I am taking off on Friday to figure out the hardware for the living room windows. Then I will start on the window quilts. I have the design done, but need to plan it all out; background fabric and the animals. Saturday is the Mothers Tea at our church. I am ¼ of the committee setting it up, etc. We are setting each four-person table with a tea service from one of our members. I am using the silver tea service from our wedding and the tea set from Germany. Several people are also doing tributes to women they admire. I have mine just about written, but really needs some polish. Sunday is my birthday and my trip back to Nebraska is my present. We may go out for dinner to Outback, my favorite steak place. Monday I am taking a day just to sew. I found some really cute dress fabric for the granddaughters. I still need to decide what to do for the boys. Jessica gave me four small projects as well. This is all a great excuse to stay away from work!

Now I am inspired – finish the laundry and cleaning – then to my sewing room.

April Showers

OK friends and relatives. April showers turned out to be snow showers. We have about 2" of snow over the weekend. It was windy and cold. Both of us were working, so we were not out this weekend. The Sporsmans Show was at the Sullivan Arena and he worked in the Safari Club International Booth both afternoons. I had lots of paper work at the office to catch up on. Seems everyday this week I was in the field working - inspections, construction sites, etc.

The great news - we finally mailed out the Holiday Notes! It's Season's Greetings, in the Spring Season. Enjoy the notes!

Mother Goose Revisited

Rock-A-Bye Baby in the Treetop
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks…….
The branches come crashing on the Renter’s Car!!

1, 2, Buckle your shoe
3, 4, Slam the door
5, 6, Pick up sticks
7, 8, Lay them straight (on the trailer)
Repeat 3rd and 4th lines MANY times
9, 10 A big fat Motrin Backache !

The Chugach winds of Alaska have been in full force a couple of times this year. Our house in Chugiak has had lots of branches break off and one tree break. That does not compare to the Eagle River house. The last storm broke two large branches off the tree on the corner of our back yard. They crashed onto the roof of our tenant’s already wrecked car; but the tree itself was leaning very close to our neighbor’s house (the red one) as well. Our renter was really good about the situation; all he was saving the car for was the engine and transmission, the rest was to be sold for the metal.
We spent about 7 hours systematically tying off the tree parts and sawing off sections. It was a tight fit, so Fred could not use the chain saw. God certainly blessed us – one near miss when he sawed and section and it broke off just missing me! 1,060 later, off we go to the landfill.

“The Eagle has landed.” Those words have a new meaning here. There were around 250-300 eagles at the landfill. About half of them were immature, but just as beautiful as the adults. We have to go back to the Eagle River house and take out another tree. With the freeze/thaw cycle here, the tree has cracked from the ground up to the 12 foot mark or more. It’s good for another couple of weeks. We just need to get back there while the ground is still frozen; it just makes it easier to pull out pieces with the
4-wheeler.

There was an old Woman who lived in a shoe
She had so many daughters she didn’t know what to do
She fed them some broth without any bread
Then spanked them all soundly – and she went off to the Theatre!

In another 25 years, my daughters may understand this musical. Last Thursday a group of about 17 of us from work went to the Atwood Center where “Menopause the Musical” was playing. Of course this was preceded by a warm-up dinner at Bennihanas. The movie was 95 minutes of non-stop singing (tunes were from the 60s and 70s) but all the works were words for us older ladies – Hot flashes, night sweats, weight gains, mood swings, you get the message. We laughed so hard our cheeks hurt for hours after we left. If it plays in a theatre near you, it is worth the cost of the ticket.

The only other excitement is our life is the celebration of having filed our taxes last weekend. I am sure that we are the last ones in the family to do this. We put it off as long as we could because we had to calculate all of the taxes on the investments we used as the down payment on the house. We feel somewhat like Robin Hood – we have robbed from the rich and given to the government.

The North wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow
And what will the “Lehmans” do then?

As I look at Bear Mountain, it is shrouded in a snow storm. It’s melting on the driveway now, but that won’t last long. The Northern Lights have started making early morning appearances. I missed them on Thursday when they were really dancing; but ADN caught them just over the LDS temple. (Yes, Jennifer, I saved the picture for you.) Fred was mad ‘cause I did not call and tell him to look out the window. With the snow fall this evening, I am sure we will see them tomorrow!

Alyeska Beauty

It’s early evening and the sun is setting on Alyeska Glacier. I am enjoying the scene of skiers deftly floating downhill on four inches of fresh powder and younger want-to-be skiers traverse the short runs below our window. It has been a beautiful weekend; soft snow falling all day yesterday creating the feeling of solitude and then an early morning brilliant sunrise daring people to come out and enjoy the day!

We arrived late Friday night after Fred completed a private flying lesson on Elmendorf AFB. We devoured an Italian spicy sausage and cheese specialty pizza from Moose’s Tooth on our way out of town. It has been several years since we ate there – and it is still incredibly popular! It was dark and the roads bumpy and icy once we arrived in Girdwood. It’s amazing how quickly one can wish for paved and snowplowed streets of larger cities when visiting small towns with limited street lights and snowfall limiting visibility.

Saturday was warm and cozy as the snow fell in large flakes. We slept late and then ventured out to the local Bake Shop. The owners, husband and wife, make and serve great breakfasts and lunches. She is German and always has a great hearty soup. Saturday’s special was a tomato based Hungarian sausage and horseradish with a side of fresh sourdough bread. They are known for their fresh cinnamon rolls – so we just had to share one of those as well. After breakfast we ventured next door to the Visual Arts shop. It is co-op of local artists of various talents. We found a couple of small prints (5x7) to add to our Alaskan themed living room. It was back to the room to enjoy a movie or two. For dinner we tried a new place – Jack Sprat – they cook all organic food. It was good food, but we filled our bellies before the plates were clean!

Sunday morning we awoke to brilliant sunshine streaming through the window and a very quiet Mount Alyeska. The trail groomers on snow machines had not yet broken the silence and the mountain just could not hold back the glow and warmth of the day. The silence did not last long and soon the valley rang with shouts of children and children on their last day of Spring Break Fever. We decided on just fresh, hot sourdough bread from the Bake Shop as we took off on our adventure for the day. We headed to Whittier. For the first time ever, we saw the door of the tunnel closed. But our timing could not have been more perfect. Just as we arrived, the light turned green and we proceeded through the tunnel – at $12 a car! Whittier is definitely friendlier in the summer. The cold wind swept icy cold snow down the mountain and against our skin as we opened the doors. We decided it was better to see the town via the Jeep and just make Fred get out and take pictures. We found lots of large snow piles, cars buried in snow drifts, roads that had only been plowed by other vehicles trying to maneuver through and businesses boarded up against the cold winter. There was one mother who braved the cold to give her small children a sled ride. It was time to head back through the tunnel. It was 28 degrees in Whittier, 35 degrees in the tunnel and back to 28 degrees at Portage Glacier.

We took the side trip to Portage Glacier Visitors Center, but were disappointed to find that funding had been cut resulting in no more weekend hours over the winter. It is truly a scenic place in the winter – no tourists you know. J The small Portage Day Lodge was open for business, so we browsed the gift shop, shared adventure stories with other local travelers and then made our way back to the car. Next stop, Alaska Wildlife Center – now known as the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center – to see the rescued and adopted animals. Fred was on a special mission to see if they managers had installed a plaque recognizing Safari Club International for their donation of $40K for a loading and isolating chute for large animals, specifically Wood Bison, and the assistance in acquiring a herd of over 30 Wood Bison from Canada. The plaque was there, very small and on the back side of the game preserve; not near the exhibit. My guess is he will be discussing the location with fellow board members at there next meeting. We enjoyed the sleepy brown bears basking in the warm sun, Sitka deer hiding in the brush, moose shivering off the magpies wanting to find a warm place to rest, and black bears scurrying along the fences chasing unknown dreams. Just as we were leaving the preserve, we spotted three, three-year Kodiak Bear Cubs wrestling in the snow-covered grass. They appeared to be performing just for our benefit, enticing us to stay another 15 minutes.

We headed once more for Girdwood and the warmth of our room. Fred had a good book to read and worked a couple of crossword puzzles. At 4:30, we headed for on the favorite restaurants of the area for dinner – The Double Musky. Seated in the glassed in sun porch, we enjoyed the scene as the sun dipped between the spruce trees casting odd shadows against the snow. Fresh Halibut, beer battered and deep fried, served with a Belgian dark beer – Trois Ponteles (sp?) – started our fare. This was followed with fresh spinach salad. Fred had lamb made in an Italian tomato sauce with just a hint of hot spices; a side of garlic mashed potatoes and seasoned veggies. I had braised beef in Italian wine sauce mixed with onions, celery and cranberries and fresh steamed broccoli. All meals are served with fresh cheese bread with jalapeño spices. Even though we were satiated, the dessert tray proved to inviting. Fred took a piece of fresh pineapple carrot cake topped with sliced almonds to go.

Ho-Hum, a full tummy and a soft bed, I could be tempted to curl up and fall asleep. I decided to share the weekend events. I hope this entices everyone to come and share Alaska in the winter! We head back to Chugiak in the morning. Fred will drop me off at work to finish a letter that my boss requires by late afternoon. He has to be at home working in the afternoon as well. Happy St Pats Day to those that celebrate the GREEN!

Blogged Out!!

To my great family -You will be proud. I spent most of my day catching up on my blog, learning new tricks (thanks jessica) and reading up on all you guys! I have to look over some work papers and watch Forrest Gump with Dad.

Bibio-Tag

OK Jennifer (Jessica, too) - I did "get it" on this tag; and as usual I am late in the scheme here! Besides with my late entry into the current century of electronic mail, my friends are still not caught up! So I did what Jessica did - I grabbed the two books I am currently reading and a couple more I just finished. (When I get some more friends - I will do the game right :-) . So here are 5 books, each with three sentences. You girls know the authors I like, so I guess this is easy.

The Rescur Society's shabby hansom creaked into motion. This is the first time you've combed your hair in a month. You are sitting up and your dead brittle hair covers the floor. The horrible dread of being trapped again in her groom's malevolent clutches quickly prodded her to her senses and she whirled away, frantically trying to avoid his outstretched hand. His fingers caught in her lon, loosely swirling hair, but in a desperate quest for freedom she snatched free, in the process sacrificing more than a few meager strands to his unrelenting grasp. She race onward with frantically beating heart, all too keenly aware that her life was in serious peril. They used skateboards, in-line skates and bicycles for their activity and they attracted Toby's attention at once. His mouth opened into an "O" , his steps faltered, and he paused to watch, unmindful as always of the odd sight he presented: a little boy wearing too-large jeans, a life ring round his waist, and trainers that were closed with duct tape. The skate bowl comprised three levels ascending one of the hillocks, the easiest level being on the top and the most difficult and steepest at the bottom. He sits and opens the tackle box, and takes out a freezer bag full of special sand, the small vials of pale violet glue. With the flashlight, he illunminates what he's doing as he squeezes the glue over the palmar surfaces of his hands. He plunges them one at a time into his bag of sand. That's because home ownership is not only good for individuals, it's also good for the national economy. It creates wealth, lends stability to communities, increases the tax base and stimulates businesss activity. And don't think government housing programs are just for poor people.

Tag - If they play -

1. Jennifer
2. Jessica
3. Patrice - just gave her my blog address
4. Kathy - shared the address with her, too
5. One of Jen's sister-inn-laws

Lazy Sunday !

It's a quiet Sunday afternoon and I am trying to redeem myself. Both of my daughters have been reminding that "we" need to keep our blog up. Jessica even walked me through adding a picture today. The one you see will be our wine label, Lehmans Libations. It also reminds us of the moose in our back and front yards the other day. Dad was out there taking pictures, but we have not downloaded them yet. No Alan, I am not talented enough to go straight to the new Photo technology that I got for Christmas. I am still trying to find my way around "windows vista."

By the way, one of my daughters will have to let me know how to allow some of my friends to see our blog. I was talking to kathy Lennartz about this. Since we only talk a few times during the year, it would be neat to share this. Besides Jessica - she asks about you alot.

Dad and I spent the weekend working around the house. It was nice just to kick back and enjoy the weather. It has been melting a lot this past week, so Dad moved the 2 four wheelers and 4 snow machines into the trailer for the season. That was a lot of "muscle" work. I cleaned the main floor and hung lots of pictures and shelves. It has taken a long time to decide where I wanted stuff due to all of the windows and less wall space than we have ever had. I have my kitchen in Uncle Sam. The downstairs bathroom is moose and bear camping scenes. So the colors really blend nicely. We hung the pictures of Independence Mine, Kennicot Mine and the Musher's Cache in the livingroom. I put all of moose sillouettes on the mantle. Over the next month or so, Patrice and I will shop for fabric to accent the the colors and get ready to make window quilts. We will have Denali in the center window and black sillouettes of Alaskan moose, bear, eagles, etc. I really have not decided what to do on the two side window for the kitchen/dining area. Obviously, something very simple since all windows will be seen as you walk in from the front door.

I had approved leave for this next week and we had a great now machine trip planned, but Fred could not get the time off from his job. So I decided to work 1/2 days and spend time in my sewing room. Some cleaning, some mending and then I have summer clothes to sew for my grandkids. I found some cute prints...so I will have to get their measurements! I also want to get the family pictures up. I decided that the stairwell is the best place. One wall dediciated just to the grandkids and the other wall to family pics. That will be a fun project!!

Friday through Monday we will be at Alyeska. It is supposed to be a ski weekend, but depends on the melting and the winds. Upper slopes were closed most of last week due to high winds and this weekend the lower slopes were closed because it was so warm. Maybe we just have to stay in the room, read books, go for walks, and uh.....we'll figure it out!

Work for me will not slow down for the forseeable future. I am really excited about a couple of things. First, I knew that one of my employees was a Christian. She is Penecostal. Shortly after I hired our Administrative Assistant (works closely with me) I found out she is Jewish. Two other employees are also women of faith. One day they asked me to join them in a quiet prayer just before our workday started. It feels wonderful start each like this. Since we pray before scheduled work hours, there is no conflict for me or the workforce. Second, I was nervous about hiring so many new people (9) in a matter of about 60 days. My entire staff is only 13 people in the main office. The staff is really melding as a team. It is a joy to watch this and be a part of it. I have 2 more people that work in the office, supervised by someone else, but I assign their work and pay their salary. (Long story on how that come to happen - the positions were once housing staff.) I have work cut out for me there - one has not shown up for work yet (workman's comp issues from 5 years ago) and the other works when he chooses on the jobs he chooses rather than assigned work. So we have had lots of issues. Beyond that, the workload is heavy. The return of the Brigade from Iraq went smooth, but now we are dealing with all the injured soldiers and their special needs in both family housing and the barracks. We have all the replacements showing up now and through the next two months. Then is will be the routine high summer turnover.

My new mission - take over the management of Barracks. (Called First Sargents Barracks Initiative; FSBI) It will be similar to running dorms, only with Army rules and deployment schedules! The staff and I have been working all the documents, trying to get office space for two 4-man teams and a main office in my building. I am still writing the the contracts for hiring the personnel. We have 3000 sleeping rooms spread across the post. It is really an exciting program!

I have kept up via the phone, so you know that travelled with Command Sargent Major to Fort Hood, TX to inspect and review their FSBI program. After that I spent a few days with Jessica rather than returning to Alaska. I went to Denver for the two weeks - one week was for renewing my property management certification and the second was for the international housing conference. I was back in Alaska for about 5 days. The next trip out was to Orlando for the International Homebuilders Trade Show and associated presentations. It was incrediable - 47 acres - and some companies even buildt houses in the parking lots so they could sell their products. DOD makes has a mini seminar each year to show prospective builders and property managers what we are doig, where troops or offices are moving, and where they can get business. This year the people representing DOD were Army Housing Chiefs and Directors of Public Works from Alaska, Hawaii, Japan and Okinowa. It's the team of professionals I work with each day, so it was awesome to spend time with them. We actually spent an entire day working on issues that jus affect our region.

When I got home in early March, I am ready to stay put. I have one more trip that I know of this year. I will go to DC for a seminar on all the changes for handling General and Flag Officers housing, both single soldier and family housing.

It's a beautiful day - and I want to spend some time out here enjoying it!

My (Mom's) New Car

Check it out!

What a nice hubby!!

These are some of the fun portraits that Alan took while we were in Utah - You all know Fred, he got tooo crazy on a couple of them. Alan does great work and we had not had a professional portrait done in several years. Thanks Alan.

I am packed and ready to leave for Idaho Falls. The weather has turned blowing and snowing, so the decision may be to take the shuttle and stay with Alan's Mom overnight. I will miss Anya and Aaron and all the hugging, but I am ready to get back home. Especially since I have to travel for four weeks-January 14 to Feb 16 with one week back in Anchorage. I am going to Fort Hood Texas, Arkansas, Denver and Seattle. The trip is all business, except for two days in Arkansas.

It was a great time watching movies, sewing a couple of skirts, shoeshoeing, skiing, etc - boy it doesn't seem like we had time to sleep.

Once again I promise to write more frequently-weekly-in the Blog. Alan has showed me how to load photos - now if I can remember all that stuff until I get home!